Engine



March 24, 1942.

A. HANSEN ENGINE Filed July 1, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 STE/w TURBINE INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

March 24, 1942.

A. HANSEN ENGINE Filed July 1, 1940 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 4. HAA/JEM A'ITORNEY.

Patented Mar. 24, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ENGINE Archie Hansen, Prophetst'own, Ill.

Application July 1, 1940, Serial N ..343,358. 1 Claim. (.01. 60-44);

This invention relates to engines, and aims to provide an efiicient engine which incorporates the explosive principle of the internal combustion engine and its consequent quick-starting advantages, but instead of operating on the explosive force of the latter, it utilizes the heat generated by the explosions to heat water to form steam. Thus, a great portion of the Wasted heat in the internal combustion engine is hereby used to provide power.

In the accompanying drawings, which serve only to illustrate the principles of this engine and are not intended to limit the construction of the engine in any way to the details of these drawings,

Figure l is a fragmentary view, partly in section, showing the various elements of the lower portion of the engine and their interrelationship, the upper portion of the engine being omitted.

Figure 2 is a. cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and in addition shows the upper portion of the engine, which is omitted from Figure 1, in side view when seen from the line 2-2 Figure 3 is a front view of the upper portion of Figure 2, partly in section.

Figure 4 is a View of Figure 3 taken at right angles to the latter from the left.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 1.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral l0 indicates an air intake pipe and the numeral II. a. pipe through which vaporized gasoline is drawn from a carburetor, not shown. These pipes l0 and II lead into an elbow l2 which is secured at its open end to a valve housing l3 containing the valve I4. The housing I3 is secured to a cylinder 15, and the valve l4 projects thereinto through an opening in the cylinder wall. A piston I6, pivoted on the end of a piston rod [1, is slidable in the cylinder l5, and the combination provides a compressor for compressing the air and gasoline mixture drawn through the valve housing I3 from the pipes l0 and II.

At the lower end of the cylinder l5 a housing I8 is mounted and has communication into the cylinder through openings in the cylinder head in which four valves H! are provided, these valves being supported in a spider 2| in the housing l8. The lower portion of the latter has an and at. the open end of the extension. 20 an extension. 23 of: a combustion. chamber housing 26 is' secured. The front. wall 28 of the extension. 23 has a. port- 24v coaxial with the bore 22,. and the wall 21, separating theextension 23 from the. housing. 26, has a similar port 25 therein. The extensions. 20. and 23 may, together, be termed a union? between the housings l8. and 26..

The extension 23. is: open at. the. top. and its pairs of opposed inner walls. are vertical and mutually parallel. to. provide a compartment 30 which is rectangular in cross-section and, as above-mentioned, open at the. top. Aslide valve 29 is slidably mounted in. the. compartment. 30, adapted to. slide up and down therein, and is secured. on the. lower end of a rod 31.. The valve 29: also has. a. port, 33, extending transversely therethrough. It is to be. noted, Figure 1, that each of the ports. 24, 33, and 25 tapers gradually toward the. right,.so that, when these are aligned as shown in Figure 1,.they form atapering nozzle from the. extension 20 into the housing 26. A spark. plug 34 projects into the housing 26 through the topthereof.v

Below the; housing l8 and the. extensions 26 and. 23, a. nipple 35 having communication into the. housing. 26, projects from the latter and is adapted to: have. the nozzle 36. of a water pipe or hose 3'! screwed. thereinto. Water enters from they nozzle 36 into. the lower portion. of the. housing 26. A steam turbine or. other'steam-actuated prime mover 37 is coupled. to the lower open end 32 of the housing 26 through, a pipe: 3.8, the exhaust 39 of. the: steam engine being shown simply to complete the chain.

The cylinder [5 and extension iii are secured firmly to a frame 46 which also provides the standard for the same. A mixture of air and vaporized gasoline is sucked into the cylinder I5 during the up stroke of the piston I 6, the

valves l9 being closed and the valve l4 open.

' On the down stroke of the piston, this explosive extension 20 in which a bore 22 is provided,

mixture is forced through the opening 22.

The upper end of the piston rod I! is pivoted to a pitman 4| whose upper end, in turn, is pivoted on an excentric pin 43 on a drive wheel 42. A shaft 44, having any suitable drive means, such as, for example, the electric motor 63, is supported in the frame 40 and drives the wheel 42. A block 45, secured about the pivot between the rod I! and the pitman 4|, is constrained to vertical movement by guides 46 formed in the frame 40.

The shaft 44 has a cam 41 rigid thereon, having on one side an arcuate surface 48 and opposite thereto an arcuate surface 49 of greater diameter and greater length than the surface 48. A bell crank is pivoted at 50 on the frame 40, and on its upper end has a roller 52 which rides on the cam 41. The lower end of the bell crank has a slot 53 which engages slidably therein a pin 54 rigid on the upper extremity of the rod 3|. A spring 55 secured at its lower end near the base of the frame 40, has its upper end secured to the lower arm of the bell crank 5|. The position of the roller 52 on the cam 41, shown in Figure 2, is that which it occupies at the instant the piston I6 is about to begin its downward stroke. In that position the opening 33 is aligned with the openings 22, 24, and 25. As the cam rotates in the direction of the arrow (Figure 2), the roller 52 quickly moves from the position shown to a position where it rides on the cam surface 48. During movement of the roller between these two positions, the spring 55 draws the rod 3i downward, thus lowering the opening 33 out of alignment with the openings 22, 24, and 25 and closing the passage between the housings l8 and 26. As the piston continues to descend, therefore, the combustible mixture is compressed into the chamber of the housing 18. When the piston approaches the end of its down stroke, the roller 52 will ride up quickly onto the cam surface 49, thus raising the rod 31 and quickly opening the passage between the housings l8 and 26 by again aligning the opening 33 with the openings 22, 24, and 25. This will permit a rush of the compressed mixture from the housing l8 into the housing 26, and, obviously, due to the length of the cam surface 49, the said passage will remain open for approximately the time that it takes for the piston to rise again to its maximum upper position. Thus the said passage remains open for a sufficient time to allow practically all of the compressed mixture to expand into the housing 26.

At 56, in Figure 1, a circuit breaking switch and circuit are schematically shown, to provide the spark for igniting the mixture in the housing 26. A tongue 51 is fixed to the rod 3|, and its end engages one extremity of a rocker 58 pivoted to a support 59 which may be part of the frame 40, or may be secured thereto. A pair of spring contact fingers 60, normally tending to become separated, and to open the circuit therebetween, are kept closed by pressure of the other end of the rocker 58 on the upper finger. A battery BI is in circuit with the fingers 60 and the primary coil of a spark coil 62; the spark plug 34 is in circuit with the secondary coil of the spark coil 62. As illustrated, the spark would be passed in the housing 26 after the piston l6 had begun its descent; however, the exact timing of the spark may be varied to suit the conditions and in order to attain the best results. The entire spark-producing mechanism and device shown is for the purpose of illustration only.

When the spark is passed in the plug 34 the mixture in the housing 26 will be ignited and will explode. The heat from the explosion will cause almost instantaneous vaporization into steam of the water spray (which may preferably be in the form of atomized particles) entering through the nozzle 36. The steam thus formed, will pass into the prime mover 31, together with the combustion products with which it will be mixed. Thus, practically the entire energy of the explosion, including the heat energy utilized to form the steam, will be made available for power. The speed of the prime mover and its power output may be controlled by the usual butterfly carburetor valve, not shown.

Obviously, modifications in form and structure may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

In a machine comprising a vertical reciprocating compressor adapted to receive and compress a mixture of fuel vapor and air and an explosion chamber adapted to receive said mixture, a housing enclosing an intermediate chamber and secured to the outlet of the compressor, a union between said housing and the wall of said explosion chamber coupling the same together, said union having a horizontal opening extending therethrough and providing communication between said housing and said explosion chamber, said union having a vertical opening extending downward through the top thereof into the lower portion thereof and through said horizontal opening, a slide valve registering in said vertical opening and having a horizontal opening therethrough adapted to be intermittently aligned with said union opening, outlet valves in said compressor having means for opening during the compression stroke thereof and for closing during the suction stroke, means for actuating said compressor, means actuated by said first means for reciprocating said slide valve from a position of alignment of said slide valve opening with said union opening during the suction stroke to a position in which said slide valve opening is out of alignment with said union opening to obstruct the passage therethrough.

ARCI-IIE HANSEN. 

